Lost Inhibitions
by shadowrogue
Summary: During a mission Kakashi is inflicted with an unique jutsu. His relationship with a certain cherry blossom will never be the same. It's a kakasaku. Alright. I've decided to make the next chapter the epilogue... isn't it sad? It'll probably take up to a w
1. prologue

Hey. I am officially obsessed about this couple so be nice and give tips please.

It was a full moon as the pink haired kunoichi jumped off the bridge with her short hair flying behind her and landed gracefully. She ran the rest of the way into the forest and into a familiar clearing. She had been sneaking out here for the past week. The summer air was most pleasant and the sounds around her were comforting. In her hands she had a blue rolled up sleeping bag and spread it out on the soft grass. She laid down and smiled contently as she snuggled in and looked up at the sky. Suddenly images of team 7 laughing together, having good times together flooded her mind and she sighed happily.

She had recently made jounin after much practice and strained efforts and team 7 was once again whole. She was now 17 and had the body to prove it. She would never admit it but she was one of the most desired women in Konoha. She was a well-known medic nin and has yet to have lost a patient. Her gentjutsu could be rivaled by few and her ninjutsu was up there as well. Her Taijutsu could still use some work but it was still slightly better than average. She didn't like to go out much though but that didn't put a damper on her popularity one bit. Being best friends with Ino an all. There weren't many chances for group 7 to get together but they were now all on the same level save for Kakashi of course and would take as many chances to get together as possible.

She had long since confirmed Sasuke to be asexual and had finally settled for their brother/sister relationship. He had finally come back to them and was still searching for his brother but had loosened up a considerable amount although he could still be pretty touchy at times. Naruto was the same hyper-active, sweet, determined, annoying(at times) brother she never had. He and Hinata had gotten together a while ago and Naruto had told her that he was going to propose to the shy girl soon. She felt excited and quite satisfied with his decision. He would without a doubt make a great hokage one day. Images of her sensei came to her. He was still and it seemed shall forever be an enigma to her. At this she frowned. She didn't know what quite to make of him. He wasn't exactly a father figure but not close enough to be a brother either.

She gave a mental shrug annd smiled again as she made a mental image of her mysterious teacher. She imagined his slouched posture and his crinkled eye as he smiled. The way he would always be there for them and how he would always have his nose in that perverted book of his. At this she snorted and started to drift off. "perverted scarecrow.." she muttered as sleep finally grasped a hold of her. She never detected the presence of the dark-eyed ninja looking down at her from his hiding spot in the tree nor did she see the way his eye crinkled as her muttering reached his ears.

I dunno what to make of this but I would like help. Should I continue or make a new plot? I'm really impatient to get this up on the site. I've been wanting to write a fanfic on this couple for a week. Me and my procrastinating self. I kind of rushed through this so don't be too harsh if it sucks. Arigatou!


	2. Chapter 2

Konnichiwa minna-chan! Thanks for the reviews! I'll do my best not to let you down.

Harada Risa

Jemiul

Shadow Vixen

Koruyuu

Kakashi Idiot

Silver soulless

Thanks for all the help guys! Couldn't have gotten this done without your support. Hope you like it.

Sakura stirred and groggily opened her eyes. They met with blaring red numbers that showed 3:45. "Urng…" 'How did I get back in my bed?' was her last thought before she fell asleep again.

The next morning she woke to the sunlight shining onto her face. After she had brushed her teeth and her body had started to adjust to being awake the kunoichi went through her schedule.

First she'd have to go to the hospital, then in the afternoon she'd go train and work on some taijutsu and her chakra control. She decided to look for Naruto to spar. It'd been a week since she last saw him and frankly she missed him.

With that in mind she bound her chest and put on a form-fitting dark blue long-sleeved shirt with her black spandex shorts.

At 1:00 the cherry blossom stepped out of the hospital and stretched her back out. Today was a relatively easy work day not seeing too many injured ninja as of late. It hadn't been quite as busy since the defeat of Orochimaru two years ago.

Orochimaru had finally invaded Konoha and Tsunade had taken him down. She had been there. It had broke her heart to see Naruto fighting Sasuke but in the end Sasuke had come to his senses. The crazed look in his eyes when they had been fighting still haunted her sometimes but he seemed content and that gave her peace.

During the fight she had been with Ino and Hinata. They were fighting against sound nin and it was uncomfortably close. As a matter of fact if Lee and neji hadn't showed up things might've made a turn for the worse. This was one of the things that made her work harder and got her where she was today.

When she arrived at Naruto's apartment she knocked once then twice. After 5 minutes of waiting she decided to go check and see if he was at the ramen shop.

She was disappointed when she found the table empty and decided to eat lunch there anyways. No point in starving herself looking for him. Satisfied after eating her miso, pork ramen she paid the cook and decided to just go to the forest and hope someone would be there.

To her chagrin she found no one and sighed in exasperation. "Argh! You'd think someone would be here!" She yelped in surprise when she heard a deep voice behind her.

"Yo" the silver-haired jounin said smirking down at her from behind his book.

Sakura jumped back and turned around frantically. "Kakashi sensei you hentai! Don't do that, you almost gave me a heart attack!" exclaimed sakura clutching her chest.

He laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, habit.

Sakura snorted then smiled. "That's ok. You just surprised me. I didn't know anyone else was here.. "

Kakashi cast a curious look at her. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was looking for Naruto to spar with and I couldn't find him. So I finally decided to come by myself. I wasted a whole hour looking for him too." She grumbled.

Kakashi was silent for a moment looking thoughtful. Then closed his book. "Do you still want to spar?"

"Yea, that'd be great!" exclaimed Sakura. "Are you sure you don't have anything to do though?"

"Hmm.. well I was enjoying my time alone but I get the feeling I wouldn't be able to read in peace anyhow.

Sakura giggled and nodded her head. "You got that right. We can't have you slacking off now."

Kakashi smirked. "I don't know Sakura-_chan_. How is fighting a little girl like you going to keep me in shape?"

Inner Sakura spouted flames in the backround. 'Are we just going to take that from him! Let's show him what this _little girl _can do.' "Alright copy ninja Kakashi. I'm going to make you swallow those words!"

With that Sakura charged at him head on with a kunai in her hands.

'What is she doing? She should know better than to take him straight on.' Kakashi easily dodged her attack and did a sweep kick at her feet. She pushed off the ground with her hand and threw her kunai at him. He vanished and reappeared behind her holding her arms behind her back.

"Is that all you got?." He teased.

Sakura smirked and vanished in a puff of smoke.

'A shadow clone.' Suddenly he felt a hand drag him underground. He jumped free and looked up just in time to see Sakura making a downwards kick at his head.

They continued to block, hit and dodge. 'Crap if we continue to go on like this I'm going to lose.

Sakura sent a kick to his side then aimed a punch at his face. As he grabbed her hand she used the momentum to propel herself over his head and used her kunai to cut the swire above them that triggered a trap.

Kakashi quickly let her go and performed a substitution jutsu and in place of him was a log with 6 throwing stars imbedded in it.

Sakura quickly performed a couple of complicated seals and in an instant the air was surrounded in a shroud of thick mist. She knew this would only last a while so she hid in a row of thick bushes to catch her breath.

A moment later the mist disappeared and she saw Kakashi standing in the open looking around. 'This looks too easy' she thought suspiciously. She sent a clone out to distract him while she performed another set of seals.

She sped out of her hiding spot just in time to dodge Kakashi's attack. 'She looked to see that the other Kakashi had disappeared along with her clone. As he was about to hit her she jumped up out of the way.

"Fire bird jutsu!" His eyes widened as he attempted to block the

Inner Sakura pumped her fist into the air. 'Yea take that you old man!' Sakura frowned when she realized something was wrong. Why wasn't he moving? He couldn't be dead…. Could he?

'Oh my god, oh my god… she could see the headlines now. Copy ninja Kakashi killed by ex-student. "Noo!" She was so busy panicking she didn't register when the body disappeared and she was tackled from behind.

"I win." He whispered in her ear. He was impressed by her skill. He'd like to think it was partly because of him. There were a few times that she'd caught him off guard. That last attack was especially close. He was proud of her.

"Wait, what? Sensei you're alive!" as if she'd just noticed he was there.

The masked ninja watched her in amusement. "You thought you killed me?"

The cherry blossom blushed in embarrassment. "Well I.. that is to say.. no?"

"Really?" he drawled.

"Yes really. Now let me up, you're hurting my arm." She demanded as she squirmed in his grasp.

She gasped when she found herself face to face with her former sensei. "better?" he smirked.

It then dawned on her just how awkward their position was. She was trying to fight down the blush she felt coming on. "Kakashi-sensei…" He had a strange look on his face and his eyes were clouded over.

Being so close to him she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. The blush she was fighting came full force turning her face a bright cherry red. 'What am I thinking! He's my sensei!' _'not anymore he's not'_ smirked inner Sakura. '_doesn't he look hot? _The way his sweat had plastered his shirt to the planes of his chest she liked what she saw.

Kakashi found himself staring at the cherry blossom. She was so adorable when she got flustered. He looked down at her parted lips and wondered how soft they would be. His eyes were drawn to her emerald green eyes and found himself unable to look away. She smelled like cherries.

He suddenly had the urge to touch her when she called his name. He quickly snapped out of his trance and shook his head. 'She's too young for you Kakashi, besides she doesn't even think of you like that' He sighed.

Slowly her got up and immediately missed her soft warmth. The sun was already almost out of site sinking beneath the trees. He offered her a hand and pulled her up. Both of them felt a spark at the contact and quickly let go.

'What was that' she wondered looking at her hand. 'I wonder if Kakashi-sensei felt that…'

The older jounin took out his Icha Icha Paradise and tried to look nonchalant. He knew what that was and didn't like it one bit. 'What's wrong with me.' He internally growled. '

I have to get away from her and soon. How is it that this girl could affect him so much.' Sure she was beautiful, intelligent, kind, loyal… what was point again?' Argh! He felt like pulling his hair out.

Sakura wondered what he was thinking about. Not that this was any different than normal but she swore that his eyes were burning a hole in that one specific spot. 'Must be a good part or something.' She shivered at that thought. 'Stupid pervert, ignore me will he?'

Deciding that she'd had enough she walked up to him and attempted to snatch his book away. Whether he saw it coming or out of pure reflex he ducked under her arm and walked in front of her.

"Coming?" He asked. Leaving a fuming kunoichi in his wake. If looks could kill Kakashi would've been struck down on the spot.

The walk back to town was relatively peaceful. Besides the occasional muttering of idiot and hentai from Sakura.

Kakashi turned back to look when he didn't feel her walking behind him. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed that he had passed her house.

Looking up at him she smiled. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"Tomorrow." He said.

Her brow scrunched in confusion. "Tomorrow… oh! Our mission" she slapped her head.

"Don't tell me you forgot." His tone concerned. Sakura was usually the one who reminded him, Sasuke and Naruto of their missions together. It wasn't like her to forget.

"Sorry sensei. I've just been kind of busy lately with training and working." She grinned. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Alright. Just don't overwork yourself. We can't have one of our best medic nins not taking care of herself. That'd be a little hypocritical ne?"

She blushed at his compliment. I'm really not that good" she said. 'That's right I am!' inner Sakura boasted. "Well I should get going if we have a mission tomorrow." She scrunched up her nose. "I still need to shower. I stink…"

Kakashi chuckled involuntarily sending a shiver down her back. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at 8:00."

Smirking she said "I'll be there by 10:00 then." For the six years she'd known him not once had he been on time and she highly doubted that tomorrow would be any different. "Will Sasuke and Naruto be there?" She hadn't seen them around lately and wasn't sure if they were on a mission or something. They hadn't said anything though.

He shrugged. "Aren't they always?" That was true. They've never let her down before so she didn't prod the subject further. Kakashi's eyes widened when Sakura ran up and hugged him and he had to admit it felt good. Not that he would.

A moment later she let go and ran back to her door laughing happily and said goodnight. Before she could close the door Kakashi was in front of her and embraced her tightly.

"Oh and Sakura.." "Hmm?" she looked up. "This time try not to fall asleep outside. You never know what might happen." That said the copy nin disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Leaving her in a daze.

In the next chapter Kakashi gets wounded! I'm so excited I've been thinking about this all day. I hope I can write it out though…


	3. Chapter 3

Er.. I kind of forgot the disclaimer last time so. No I do not own Naruto . If I did I would have tons of episodes on kakasaku! They really should…

Tixylix- thanks for reviewing! 

**Luna Forest- **yup falling asleep outside is bad.

Polaris- hehe thanks. Sorry for taking so long. 

**Harada Risa**- I thought my fight scenes were actually kind of unoriginal. ;;

Hamgirl- Awesome thx! 

**Koruyuu-** Thx! I'm glad my writing can make someone feel better.

**K. Lynn Smith-**Nope I didn't hurt Kakashi badly.

**Fiona McKinnon- **ehh? What does that mean.. ?

Jemuil- I'll try thanks. 

**Ranna-chan- **I hope you don't choke either. I'm not a murderer! 

**A lonely heart breaker-** Thx. I really love this couple!

Shadowvixen- Thank you! 

**Scarlet Ice Cascading- **Yes! We're two feathers of a bird.

**Lily Vendrum- **haha. Yay!

**SilverGhostKitsune- **hope I didn't keep you waiting too long,

**Shymoonlight- :**blushes: You flatter me.

**Faye Leingod-** Nope there isn't

**Shika's Soul-** thx hope you didn't wait too long

**Beyarcher-**thank you. I appreciate your enthusiasm.

**Inuyashafeudalgirl-** Arigatou

"Grrrr…" growled the pink-haired shinobi. "When I get my hands on him I'll-"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Ne, Sakura-chan are you talking about Kakashi again?"

"Who else would she be talking about dobe." said Sasuke.

"What did you say!" Naruto yelled.

"What, _dobe,_ are you deaf too? This time enunciating the word.

Sakura just shook her head at the two. Kakashi was already an hour and a half late. You'd think after all this time he'd at least try to be on time.

Now Naruto and Sasuke were shouting threats at each other. It seemed as if nothing had changed in the six years they'd known each other. It was almost like their genin years.

Suddenly a poof was heard behind them. Naruto and Sakura turned around and each pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're late!"

The masked jounin scratched his head. "Well you see… there was an old lady who needed help crossing the street. Then she insisted on buying breakfast for me and I couldn't just leave a poor lady unhappy so-"

"Liar! They yelled. Sakura's eye twitched as a vain appeared on her temple. 'Yup, just like old times.' A warm feeling started spreading through her chest. It was nice. She hadn't noticed how much she had missed her companions and wondered why she didn't keep in touch with them more.

Suddenly overcome with emotion she pulled them all in for a hug. Kakashi looked down at them fondly, while Naruto happily contributed and Sasuke being himself just 'hned'. But the upward curve of his lips gave him away.

After a moment Sakura let go and smiled brightly at them. "So what's our mission for today sensei?"

He took out a scroll and unrolled it for everyone to see. "There have been several deaths near the border of Konoha. 6 leaf shinobi and 3 travelers have been killed. We have reason to believe it's a band of rogue sound-nin. Our mission is to track them down and get them out of Leaf's territory."

Naruto had a look of excitement on his face. "Alright! We're going to show them not to mess with us!" He pumped his fist in the air. "Right Sakura?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes at him and smirked. "Of course. They don't stand a chance."

Even through all the hardships and horrible things they've seen Naruto had managed to keep his child-like countenance.

She hoped they wouldn't have to hurt the sound ninja too badly. When Orochimaru was defeated his followers had either fled or fought to their deaths. This was probably a group that had banded together to avenge him. She'd heard that sound was currently a mess and their new hokage was trying to make peace with leaf.

She briefly wondered how someone as twisted as Orochimaru could have so many followers willing to die for him. She supposed that he might've helped them conquer other villages and given a lot of power to those people. Or maybe their whole village was psychotic. She shook her head at the thought and looked up at the sky.

It was a beautiful day out. The sky was clear blue and there were a lot of clouds out. Shikamaru would probably be out cloud watching with Ino. Those two were such a strange couple. Ino constantly complained about how lazy he was but every time they were together they were clearly happy.

"Alright, then let's go already!" cried Naruto.

With that the four of them left the clearing in the blink of an eye. Kakashi led the front, Sakura and Naruto in the middle then Sasuke in the back. They leaped from branch to branch while keeping an eye out for enemies. At the pace they were going they'd probably reach the border sometime in the afternoon.

At noon the group stopped near a river to eat lunch. " Say Naruto…" Sakura said slyly Naruto gulped. He didn't like that look he was giving her. "Y-yea?" He braced himself.

"Did you ask her! She asked excitedly.

The blonde blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well…" Sakura could barely sit still from her excitement. Naruto looked up and grinned giving her a peace sign. "She said yes." Sakura launched herself at Naruto and squeezed him so tightly he was sure his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

From his position by the tree Kakashi looked at them with curiosity. Even Sasuke was wondering what was going on.

"Did I miss something?" Sasuke asked wanting to know exactly why his teammates were acting like hyperactive monkeys.

"Naruto proposed to Hinata and she said yes!" Still squeezing Naruto she jumped up and down excitedly. Sasuke smirked. "So the idiot finally got the guts to ask her."

Naruto kept grinning "Yup!" After a moment the grin was replaced with a scowl. "What'd you say!"

In an uncharacteristic show of emotion the Uchiha clapped him on the back. "Congratulations dobe." He even had a smile on his face and if Naruto didn't know better he'd swear there was a spark of happiness in his eyes..

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Ahh. Young love." He was genuinely glad for Naruto and prayed that Hinata might be able to keep him under control.

"Hey Sasuke. Is it true you have a girlfriend?" Sasuke looked away quickly and Sakura noticed that his cheeks were tinted the slightest pink.

'No way.' She thought. 'Sasuke? The ice cube has a girlfriend!' "What? You've never even mentioned her!" She'd heard rumors but dismissed them thinking some girls were just getting their hopes up.

Now that she thought about it he has become more talkative and open. And his gaze has softened, no longer hard and intimidating, at least not around them. 'Stupid! It's so obvious! So much for woman's intuition..'

She heard Naruto bombarding Sasuke with questions. "What does she look like? What's her name? Is she a jounin? How old is she? How far have you guys gone? She almost felt bad for him. Almost being the key word. 'Ha serves him right for holding out on us !' inner Sakura stuck her fist out.

The thought of her friends both having someone intimately close to them brought out a little bit of envy from her. She wondered if she'd ever find someone for her. Her thoughts led her to Kakashi.

Yesterday had been a new experience. It was as if something had started to bloom inside of her. When he looked down at her with his eyes clouded like that her heart had skipped a beat. 'What's wrong with me?'

She turned her head and snuck a glance at the silver haired jounin. He was looking at her with that same look again! She looked away quickly and looked at the lake trying to calm herself down.

He continued to watch her. He'd seen her glance at him and noted the way she had flushed when her eyes had met his. He smirked relishing in the fact that he could make her flush. Then he groaned inwardly at himself. 'What are you doing Kakashi? You're not supposed to be encouraging these feelings towards her.' He hit the back of his head against the tree trunk.

"Are you alright sensei?" she was looking at him curiously. Sensei… That word was begginning to annoy him. Strange how it never bothered him before. "Sakura?" his gaze boring into her. She gulped at the intensity in his eyes and was it just her or was it getting warmer?

"Yes?" she squeaked. She was surprised when he was suddenly a few inches from her face. "Do you have to call me sensei all the time? You make me sound so old." She'd swear he was pouting but with that stupid mask on she could never tell. "Oh. Sorry sen-kakashi." Satisfied he grinned at her. "That's better don't you think?"

A splash was heard in the back round along with a "Sasuke you bastard!" They both sweat dropped. "I guess that means our break is over." Sakura sighed. What was she going to do with those two. "You two better not be fighting again!" she yelled. "But Sakura-chan, he started it!" whined Naruto.

A few minutes later they started moving again with Sasuke and Naruto both sporting lumps on their heads. Naruto cast a glance at Sakura and shuddered. She was really scary when she was mad.

It was starting to get less grassy and more rocks were showing up beneath them meaning they were getting close to the border. Then Kakashi sensed it. They was being tailed. 'Hmm. They found us sooner than I expected.' He kept going in direction of the border so as not to seem suspicious. He'd let them attack first to see what they're capable of.

Soon they reached their destination. "Judging by the looks of things I'd say ANBU must've already gathered the bodies." His eyes scanned the perimeter. The dirt ground was stained with a dark substance in different areas. He looked up at his team and saw them looking around cautiously ready for an attack.

He sensed their chakras all around them. 'So they have us surrounded.' He counted 20 sound nin. He judged them to chunin and genin from the way they poorly hid their chakra. Sighing inwardly he put his hands in his pockets. He was hoping to have some fun today. It's been pretty boring for the last few months.

Stepping to the right he dodged a kunai. 'So, they're finally making a move.' It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought this was easy. It looked like they had actually made a game out of dodging the thrown objects. His eyes narrowed. 'Something's up.'

His eyes widened as he just barely missed being squished by a boulder. Standing in front of the group of sound nin were two men who he guessed were the ringleaders of this gang.

A giant of a man with black, spiky hair was the one who threw the boulder. The one next to him was about 6 foot and had red hair. He didn't have a good feeling about the latter. He had a dangerous aura around him and the look in his eyes held nothing but contempt. "Guys be careful. Those two aren't like the others. They're dangerous." He warned.

Sakura glanced at the leaders nervously. The red head saw her looking at him at smirked lecherously. "Like what you see?" The kunoichi snarled indignantly. "In your dreams, you creep!"

"Ooh. We've got a feisty one. Boys, I think I'll keep her as a pet." Wolf-whistles and hoots were heard. Then his green eyes caught hers and a cold shudder went down her back. 'His eyes… ' She had a flashback to the time she and Sasuke had looked into Orochimaru's eyes. She had seen nothing but death and cruelty.

She recovered quickly enough. Although they had similar eyes she could tell this one paled in comparison to Orochimaru. Sasuke glanced at her. She smiled back confidently and he smirked in return.

"Hey guys, leave the red-haired pompous to me. I'm going to show him not to mess with this ninja." She palmed her fist for emphasis. "Are you sure Sakura?" asked Kakashi. "Have a little faith in me will ya? I mean I _was_ trained by the copy ninja Kakashi himself. Not to mention the hokage who defeated Orochimaru."

The ringleaders' faces dropped. "You hear that Sho?" said the big one. "Do you think she's bluffing?" The shorter one growled in irritation. "Of course not Genki. Don't you recognize the Copy Ninja?" Smirk in place once again he leered at them. "And that I presume to be Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and.." he looked at her hungrily. "Haruno Sakura."

"So I see you've heard about us." Kakashi gripped the kunai in his pocket with enough force to break it. He didn't like the looks the red head was giving to Sakura. "You're more famous then you give yourselves credit for." "I assume you know why we are here then?"

The one called Sho growled again. "Enough small talk let's get down to business. When we're through with you there won't be enough pieces left for anyone to identify who you are!" His face distorted and his eyes were wild.

The sound nin all spanned out and started their assault. The four Konoha ninja gathered back to back. "Let's hurry up and get this done with I wanna get back to Hinata. She'll probably have ramen ready for me!" The kyuubi drooled just thinking about it. All of them voiced their agreement. "Alright then go!" said Kakashi.

Sasuke and Naruto handled the 20 minor nin while Kakashi and Sakura took on their leaders. Sakura shaped her hands together forming an Earth juutsu. Horse, ox, rabbit, tiger, ox. She smashed her fists in the ground and walls of rock came up around them and slammed together. When the dust cleared there was no sign of them.

'Underneath' She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a large burly hand protruding from the ground. "You almost had us there girly but not good enough. Sho here knows a few tricks of his own." She noted the gash on the big man's leg and the scratches on the other and smirked cockily. "Ha! You can teach any dog tricks but whether or not they're useful is another story."

Suddenly a blur of silver came crashing into the large man and a second later Genki was out cold with his mouth gaping open. Sakura hmphed. 'showoff.' But she had to admit she was impressed. She almost had trouble catching what happened.. In that blur Kakashi had transferred chakra into his hands and had pushed the five critical pressure points on his body causing the body to stop functioning. He'd probably be out for a week.

"My turn." Horse, dragon, crane, ox, tiger. The wind started to pick up and a whirlwind closed in on the sound leader. Cutting ice juutsu! Little blades of ice swept through the currents of wind and cut him in various places causing him to scream in pain.

After the whirlwind had died down Sho's body fell limply to the ground. "B-bitch.." Kakashi looked disinterestedly at him. "Your companions have been defeated and we have you outnumbered. If you leave now we'll leave you alone. If not we'll have to force you. It's your decision." To tell the truth seeing him lying there gave him some satisfaction.

His remained stoic even as the red haired psychopath started to laugh. "Don't think so little of me copy ninja Kakashi. Kakashi's one visible eye widened as he felt the air around them thicken. "What..?" Suddenly he felt his heart beat start to increase and he felt as if his surroundings were spinning at 100 miles per hour. He fell to his knees clutching his head in pain.

"What.. did you do to me!" The sound leader laughed maniacally. "I bet you didn't I came from a special bloodline did you? You don't look so confident now." Abruptly the masked jounin blacked out and fell to the ground.

"Kakashi! What did you do to him? Naruto glared at him fury blazing in his eyes. Taking out his kunai he prepared to charge at the grinning rogue. "Wait." Naruto and Sasuke both looked at Sakura in surprise. Her voice deceptively calm she glared at him with contempt. "I told you he's mine."

She was gone in an instant. She reappeared behind him and had his arm twisted in her grasp. "Now tell me what you did to him or I will make sure you won't ever be able to use this arm again." Sho laughed trying to cover his fear. "Careful girly. I might go easy on you if you're nice to me."

Sakura looked at him blankly and twisted his arm harder. Then she took one of his fingers and promptly broke it. His scream filled the air. "Every time you piss me off I'm going to break one of your fingers. If I run out I will proceed to break every limb of your body. So it's in your best interest to cooperate with me. Understand?"

He looked at his fear showing completely and nodded. "Good. Now tell me what you did to him. And I'll know if you're lying." He gulped nervously. "I used a special juutsu that's been passed down in the Mitari family for generations. It turns off the part of the mind that controls their inhibitions. Not allowing them to think properly and acting on impulse only." He gulped again.

"Was he supposed to black out?" her voice unyielding. "I-I haven't mastered this attack so I d'don't know." She growled agitatedly thus raising her voice slightly. "What was the point in using an attack that you haven't perfected?" "I was desperate!" He was starting to panic not wanting to have another finger broken.

Her voice softened slightly. "Is it permanent?" He shook his head. "No. It'll wear off in a few weeks. But I don't know if I did the juutsu right so it could be sooner." Sakura let him go and he all but ran away from her creating a 10 foot space betweem them. "If we ever catch you hear again you won't get away so easy."

That said she stooped down to pick up Kakashi's body. He groaned in response. It's a good thing she was a ninja because a normal girl wouldn't have been able to support his weight. He didn't look it but he was heavy.

Naruto and Sasuke were still gaping at her. She sweat dropped. Maybe she overdid it. "Wow Sakura you were awesome!" Naruto gazed at her with adoration. Sasuke sighed at his behavior. "I too am impressed. I didn't know you had it in you." She blushed. "Cut it out guys you're embarrassing me."

Sasuke looked at her seriously. "Are you sure you want to leave Sho out there. Shouldn't we make sure he leaves?" She shook her head. "I want to get Kakashi to Tsunade-sama as soon as possible. Besides I don't think they'll be back for a long time. Or ever."

"Good plan Sakura-chan!" said Naruto. With that said they sped back home.

Sorry for taking so long! All of your reviews really encouraged me. If it wasn't for you guys I might've still been working on it. I'm not really happy with this chapter but it's what I've got right now… So hope you enjoy! Next chapter will probably posted faster with break coming up. Ja!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I do solemnly swear that I do not :sob: own Naruto.

Me: Ahh.. my adoring fans… kidding

Kakashi:looks around: you don't have any.

Me:twitches: Yea.. I know --; thanks for the self-esteem…

Sakura:baka!

DudettRin101-Thank you! Hope you like this chapter.

Faye Leingod-What does Leingod mean? Hehe. Kakashi's a little naughty in this one.

Lily Vendrem- Suspenseful, really? That's awesome! Thanks.

Harada Risa- Yea! Sakura kicks major ass!

Crazy- I thrive off your reviews!

ShyMoonliight- haha. Sakura's my idol. :sighs dreamily:

Shika's soul- lol. I know. Thanks for the support!

Inuyashafeudalgirl- Enjoy!

Hamgirl- Arigatou

Tixylix- hahaha… ; I like you.

Polaris- That's a cute face. O.O

Mandy543- aww. Thank you. You flatter me.

Shadowvixen- lol. You sure know how to boost my ego. Sakura is pretty awesome isn't she?

Ellie3005- Hope I didn't let you down. If I did don't kill me, onegai?

Fioina McKinnon- Ooh. I see Isee. I will do my best!

Deamon- Glad to see I can get someone excited!

His eyes fluttered as he slowly regained consciousness. The smell of medicine invaded his senses and made him bolt into a sitting position. He'd always hated hospitals. He just couldn't stand staying idle for days at a time and the smell bothered him. As he shifted to get off the bed he came face to face with a sleepy cherry blossom. He frowned at seeing her groan uncomfortably in the chair she was currently occupying.

Gently he lifted Sakura into his arms then reluctantly laid her down on the hospital bed. She sighed contentedly in her sleep. He brought his fingers up to caress her face. Her skin was like silk. They traveled lower then stopped to trace the outline of her lips. They were softly parted and looked inviting.

Slowly he lowered his own lips getting closer and closer until he could feel her breath through his mask. At the sound of footsteps he darted away and out the window looking back one last time. If a nurse caught him he'd probably have Tsunade breathing down his neck if she caught him moving about. Silently he opened the window and jumped down the four stories onto the Konoha streets.

Sakura groaned as she turned in her bed. 'Wait.. bed?' Her eyes snapped open as she looked about wildly. She growled at her charge. "Kakashi…" 'He's going to get it now.' Inner Sakura cracked her knuckles. 'Still.. it was nice of him to put me here.'

Biting her lip worriedly she wondered if her former sensei was ok. The side effects of that special juutsu were unknown to even Tsunade. It seems the Mitari weren't very well known. They had both tried to figure out what exactly was damaged but every time they scanned through his body nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She said it was possible that his inhibitions had just been completely removed. Then the only solution would be for Kakashi to build them up from scratch.

Sighing she stood to go find that idiot teacher of hers. He'd probably be home hopefully still recovering. Problem was she had no idea where his house was. "Let's see…" That night after he had walked her home he kept going down so at least she had a general idea of which direction to go.

"Oy Sakura-chan!" She looked up startled to see Genma waving cheekily at her. 'Genma! If anyone knows where Kakashi lives it's him!' "Genma! You don't know how glad I am to see you." He raised a brow giving her a seductive grin. "Well if you wanted to see me that badly all you needed to do was call and I'd be there." If she hadn't needed him to help her she would've knocked him out cold. But as it was she had to endure it or otherwise it was back to square one.

"Err, yea… I was wondering if you knew where Kakashi lived." He rubbed his chin thoughfully. "Hmm… well I could tell you…but that'd be no fun. So I'll show you instead." Sakura laughed nervously. "No, I couldn't. I mean you're a busy man after all and I'd hate to impose on you…" "I insist. Besides it's a long way and you could get lost. I couldn't live with myself if I let such a beautiful young lady like you get mauled because of me."

Sakura held back the urge to blush. This would sound extremely cheesy if anyone but Genma were saying it. But he wasn't known as a lady charmer for nothing. "Alright then after you." Sakura waited patiently for him to start walking. "Follow me my lady."

After they'd passed her house he began walking towards the moderate apartment complex next to it. "Uh.. Genma-san?" He glanced back at her. "Hmm?" "Are you sure you're going the right way." "Yea. Why?" She looked down. "No reason." He just shrugged and kept moving.

The pink-haired jounin fumed internally. 'He lived right next to me all this time? How did I not notice? Why didn't he ever tell me?' "Stupid, perverted, neglectful.." she kept muttering insults at her teacher as they entered the building. The young man at the desk gave her a strange look as they went up the steps.

"Ah. Here we are. Apartment 101 After you my lady." She glared at him her cheeks getting redder. She seemed to be doing that a lot. "Stop calling my that. I'm not _your _anything." The brunette just smirked at her and opened the door to Kakashi's apartment.

"Hey wait! Shouldn't we knock or something? It's rude to just walk in you know." "Nah. I do it all the time." Sakura sighed. She was surprised to see that it was clean since he was always so lazy. All he owned were a few pieces of furniture and an oven. It wasn't very homey but it wasn't uninviting either. She guessed all he did here was eat and sleep. There wasn't even a t.v. 'No wonder he reads those perverted books.'

She nearly screamed in surprise when she was suddenly face to chest with Kakashi. She fixed him with a heated glare. "Don't do that!" He gave her an amused look. She didn't even hear him enter the room. "Sorry." "There you are Hatake. I was starting to wonder if you weren't home. Well I was just escorting Sakura-chan here so I'll be going now." Genma started walking out the door and waved backwards. "Later."

The jealous look Kakashi was giving him made him unsettled. It wasn't extreme but it wasn't exactly subtle either. 'What's up with him? He's usually not so open.' Most of the time Genma couldn't tell what his friend was thinking. Back there though it was obvious he wanted him out. "Looks like Hatake's got himself a little crush."

Kakashi kept his gaze on Genma until he shut the door. He didn't like how his hand was on Sakura's waist when they came in.

He was shocked out of his thoughts when a pair of hands started to shake him by the shirt. "Why didn't you tell me you lived so close baka! All this time I thought you lived far away because you're always so late but now I find you've been right next door to me!" Her face was red and she was out of breath from the yelling she did.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully then looked at her very seriously and gestured for her to get closer. When he was right by her ear he whispered. "It's a secret."

"What kind of answer is that? She yelled.

"Do you have to yell Sakura-chan? My head still hurts.." Guilt immediately flooded her body. 'Stupid!' As a medic-nin it was her first priority to take care of the patient.

"Here lie down." She was startled when his hand grabbed her arm disabling her of getting up and promptly put his head in her lap.

"Uh.. Kakashi?" All she got was a steady rhythm of quiet breathing. When she attempted to get up he shifted so his face was against her stomach, which was also very close to a certain other body part, and wrapped his arms around her torso.

Her face burned crimson as she tried to ignore the feeling of butterflies fluttering like crazy in her stomach. She tried again this time pulling a little harder trying to untangle herself from his firm grip.

'There's no way he's asleep' she thought. 'Fine. Two can play at that game.' Coming up with a plan she waved her fingers in his face to see his reaction. Nothing.

'Figures.' Slowly she brought her fingers up to touch his hair. She'd always imagined it to be soft. Gently she ran her fingers through his silver locks softly playing with strands here and there.

She smiled as he nuzzled his head against her hand. 'So he likes that does he?' Still playing with his hair her left hand went down ghosting a trail down the planes of his face. Almost touching but not quite.

He looked beautiful and relaxed. It was one of the rare moments where she got to see him with his guard down. Before she realized what she was doing her hand had moved down and was actually touching his lips.

'What the hell am I doing'! His lips are so soft and firm. Inner Sakura sighed contently. What do you think you're doing!' she shrieked in her head. _Don't look at me, you're doing it too_. Argh! I give up.' Arguing with herself wasn't getting her anywhere.

She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts when she felt something wet against her fingertips. He was licking her fingers! Why was he licking her fingers! Not that it didn't feel nice, but that was beside the point. He was giving her what could only be described as a wicked look.

"K-kakashi?" He looked up smirking at her flushed face. Out of sheer embarrassment she quickly jumped up completely forgetting that he was partially on her lap resulting in the top half of his body on the ground. She would've laughed at the scene if she didn't feel like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

"You're obviously feeling some side effects of that jutsu causing you to be delirious so if you don't mind I'll just be on my way." She was halfway to the door when what she said had finally kicked in. 'Delirious? That's not a good sign. What was I thinking about to leave him alone like that!'

She chanced a glance back at him only to her surprise to see an empty couch. "Where.." Suddenly she felt a pair of well-muscled arms encircle themselves around her waist bringing her right against her former sensei. 'For someone who's supposed to be recovering he sure is stealthy. '

'He must be really out of it.' she thought. Thinking that was the reason for his strange behavior didn't help her calm down. She felt guilty for enjoying his attention to her and figured as soon as he was back to normal things would be the same as before. She ignored the disappointment she felt coiling down her stomach and told herself it was only because she wouldn't be able to spend as much time with him and not because she would miss his touch.

"Umm.. could you sit down? I have to check to see if anything's changed." Slowly he let go and let her lead him to the sofa. Placing both hands on either side of his temple she pumped some chakra into his body and pushed around gently to see if anything was out of place. 'Still nothing, that's strange.' She furrowed her brow in concentration.

Then why is he acting so strange? Then realization hit her like a brick in the face. 'Could he be attracted to me? It would make sense. If I didn't have my inhibitions I'd probably be constantly touching him too. Not inappropriately of course. Ah.. bad!' _You know you would. _

"Sakura?" She looked up to see a dark eye looking concerned at her. "Is something wrong?" 'What to do, what to do? Y'know he kind of matches with his apartment..' She laughed nervously. "No! Everything's fine, peachy. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go report to Tsunade-sama. Which wasn't a complete lie. She did have to go back but not until tomorrow. However if she didn't get out of here soon she might go crazy.

Helping out an injured friend was completely different from giving into advances of someone who's attracted to you. If she didn't get out now she might end up doing something stupid and then feel incredibly guilty for taking advantage of him while he's down. _But he's the one who's making the moves. _Why do you always have to say something! _You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity. '_What's the second?' _Losing an argument with yourself. _She sweat dropped. 'I knew there was something wrong with me.'

Before she lost all of her sanity she darted out of the apartment faster than you could say 'Ichigo'(I love strawberries! ) Leaving him to stare after her with longing in his eyes. "You'll be mine soon Sakura. I promise." And Hatake, Kakashi never breaks his promises.

Whew! Finally finished chapter four! I know this chapter didn't really have much of a plot but next chapter I plan on having more emotion coming from both sides and not just all this physical attraction. That will still be there though. Please review. They are vital to my survival! Sayonara minnachan!


	5. Chapter 5

Well I made this one longer for you guys. I tried not to ramble about little stuff though. I need to get better at this… Thanks for all the reviews guys! I'm so touched. :cries:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just borrow the people and put them in a temporary story plot.

WhenYouFell- Yup! Thanks.

Graviola- Kakashi _is _hot! Thank you.

Lil anmei- I love you! yum… Kakashi

Bride-inugami21- strawberries are good! You think so? I'm really not so talented.

Wvyren Wing- arigatou!

ShyMoonlight- :drool: Kakashi….

The-kaiba-heir- hehe Many thanks for the compliments.

Faye Leingood- Ooh. I head that was a good game. Thanks. I love this couple too!

Truth or Desire- hope you like this chapter! Writing is harder than it looks.. --

SweetAssassin- Awesome! Please keep reading.

Luna Forest- thank you!

Sharingan-User Hatake Kakashi

Shatterdheart- Yes he is. Thank you! I should make him more resistant shouldn't I..

UniqueWolfLover- hehe. Yup. I love Kakashi.

Harada Risa- Yay! Arigatou Rita-chan!

SilverGhostKitsune- haha. The suspense!

BurmyWolf- lol. I wanted to add some humor in it. I'm planning to write a more serious one after I finish this though..

Hamgirl- Thanks a lot!

Tixylix- Hope you feel better. I'll give you a massage! Kakashi can be pretty scary ne?

ShadowVixen- Yup! I'll try not to let you down.

Inuyashafeudalgirl- Gomen. I'm a bit slow on the updating business.. ; Just one of my flaws.

Animemistress419- Keep reading then! There are some really good kakasaku stories out there!

A lone figure stood in front of the stone memorial. His one black eye stared hard at it as if searching for an answer. He'd come here every morning, as was his usual ritual. Except for the past week with nothing to hurry to, he had stayed longer.

He didn't understand what all the fuss was about. It wasn't like he was physically wounded. Still Tsunade had firmly told him to take a month off to recuperate telling him to look at it as a break leaving him bored out of his mind.

Internally he sighed. He hated being idle. He could be on a mission saving someone's life or taking the place of another ninja who couldn't handle their mission. Plus he had absolutely nothing to do. There's only so many times he could read his Icha Icha Paradise before he could recite them by heart. That's when you know you've read too much

His eyes bore into familiar names setting a pang in his chest. Rin.. Obito…It still hurt. He still had nightmares of them dying. In some dreams they hated him. It was better than the ones where they smiled at him. Telling it was alright, that it wasn't his fault forgiving him. And he would watch in horror as they drowned in their own blood.

At least when they hated him he could be angry. Yell and scream until all of his pain and frustration turned to numbness. Sometimes Obito would be there smiling at him with half his face crushed and rotted. Dripping in blood gaping at him with his crimson stained eyes sockets while Kakashi stared at him, unable to move or even scream.

Then there were his other dreams. Where they were alive and still the best of friends. Rin would smile at him kindly while holding Obito's hand and everything was perfect. Those were the dreams he hated most because the emptiness and guilt he felt when coming back into consciousness were almost unbearable.

He knew that if he had just abandoned the mission and went with Obito first they would be here right now. But he had been so stupid and arrogant back then. Always thinking he was right. Never stopping to consider that someone else might have a point. Which was his main reason for wanting to help Sasuke. It was his atonement. In the end he still wasn't able to help him.

He was surrounded in darkness drowning in his sorrow, his pain swallowing bits and pieces of him until there was nothing left.

Recently those dreams didn't come as often and when they did it only left a cold empty feeling in his chest. He didn't wake up screaming in a cold sweat and it usually went away by the time he came out of the shower.

Instead he'd been having dreams of cherry blossoms and sunlight. Although by the time he woke he'd only barely remember what he'd been dreaming about but it left him in a peaceful state of mind.

Being around Sakura was calming and you couldn't help but smile when you were in her presence. Her bright smiles and cheerful personality made you feel good about yourself or at least better than usual. When she entered a room the atmosphere lightened considerably. She could even make Neji smile much to the chagrin of the white-eyed boy.

It was surprising how temperamental she could get. Who would've thought such a cheerful person would have such a frightening temper. He found it amusing how she could just look at Naruto to send him running.

His stomach growling cut his musings short. "Guess I shouldn't have skipped breakfast." Hands in his pockets he headed towards the ramen shop.

"I'm.. exhausted." Sakura nearly collapsed in one of Tsunade's chair's. She'd been working herself like crazy again. After group 7's mission it was up to her to write the report seeing as how Kakashi was recuperating and she hadn't trusted Naruto to give a suitable one.

The first and last time she had let him do their mission report he had thoroughly wrote all his complaints from lack of ramen to Sasuke's normal behavior. He had also put in how everyone was mean to him and how he should get free ramen for being such a "hard-working" shinobi.

When she'd ask him where the summary of their actual mission was he pointed to a sentence, which had said 'We beat them bad.' He had a swollen cheek for the rest of that week.

When she asked Sasuke to write it he merely stared at her like she was crazy and walked away. 'Some friends…'

To make matters worse Tsunade pushed her extra hard this past week. When she asked why she was punishing her she only gave her more things to do. That women was evil.

Even with all of the work she had refused to let herself slack on her other shinobi training.

With all everything keeping her preoccupied she hadn't had time to think about Kakashi. But sometimes when she closed her eyes at night she would see his smiling face with his eye crinkled and she'd have flashbacks to his apartment.

She could still feel his warmth against her back and his arms around her waist. Then she'd wake up with a mixed feeling of contentment, confusion with just a little feeling of disappointment.

"I have a mission for you." Sakura's head snapped up at her mentor's words. She hoped it wasn't too long. She was low on energy as it was.

"You said Kakashi's predicament would last for a month at most did you not?" Tsunade looked at her intently. Sakura was getting a bad feeling about this.

She nodded. "I did."

"I want you to watch over Kakashi until he is fully recovered. I don't trust him to take care of himself. He tends to wander a lot when he's out of commission and now that his inhibitions have been taken away I don't know how unpredictable he's going to be. You know as well as I do that he is capable of much damage."

"I hardly think he's going to go around beating people up just because he feels like it. He's got more restraint than that. Besides people won't dare to insult the great copy ninja and it's not like him to go picking fights."

Tsunade fixed her with a stern look. "We can't afford to take that risk. I know Kakashi is a very strong-willed person but I don't know how much self-control he has right now and as hokage it is my duty to keep my village safe."

"Isn't there anyone else you can send? I'll fall behind in my training and what if you need me at the hospital! It's already been a week and he hasn't killed anyone yet. Maybe he's all better." She was starting to panic. It really would put a dent in her training schedule but the idea of spending time alone with Kakashi made her feel uneasy.

"You are one of the closest people to him so I don't have to worry about him trying to attack you. Also you're one of the best kunoichi we've got so I know you can handle him if he acts up."

Before Sakura could protest again Tsunade's voice rose two levels telling her there was no room for left for arguments. "You are to stay with him until he's back to full health and I want you to check his chakra everyday. Any questions?"

Wringing her hands together she nervously asked if that meant she had to stay overnight too. She breathed a sigh of relief when she said no.

The Hokage arched her eyebrow at this but decided not to comment. "But I expect you to stay until he falls asleep. You are dismissed."

She stood and bowed saying she understood. Before she could took a step out the room Tsunade called out to her. "This would be a good opportunity to get some rest for yourself as well Sakura. You've been working yourself too hard."

Sakura nodded appreciatively. "Thank you Tsunade-sama." She looked genuinely concerned about her.

"And try not to have too much fun while you're at Kakashi's. I can't have my apprentice fooling around while she's on duty."

"Eh? What are you talking about! She felt like her face was on fire.

Tsunade laughed. "I'll see you later Sakura!" She watched as her pupil stomped out of the room while grumbling under her breath. That girl was so fun to get riled up. She wondered why she was so defensive about watching over Kakashi. 'Ah well, if there was anything going on she'd find out soon enough.' After all news traveled fast in Konoha.

"Argh!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "What did I do to deserve this?" She looked up at the darkening sky accusingly. "You think this is funny don't you!"

She sighed. This wouldn't get her out of her situation. Actually she didn't think anything could get her out of her predicament. Once Tsunade made up her mind she was like a mountain except 10 times stronger.

Suddenly she felt a tug on her jounin uniform. She liked how comfortable it was even if it wasn't the most fashionable of clothing.

Turning she saw a cute little girl who looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and she could see tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She looked lost.

"Hello and who might you be?" Sakura's asked gently.

The little brunette looked at her with wide innocent eyes. M-My name is Maru.. I can't find brother. Can you help me?" Her eyes started to cloud over with tears again.

Kakashi walked out of the Ramen shop feeling replenished. He was about to walk home when he saw Sakura with a little brown haired girl. He knew he shouldn't. But he couldn't help himself when his legs began to carry him closer.

"So your brother has brown eyes and black hair?" She sweat dropped. 'Well that doesn't help us any…'

"Does he have anything that's different from anyone else? Maybe like a big scar or he could be really tall?"

Maru put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. 'She's so cute!' gushed inner Sakura. "Oh I know! He has really big hair! It looks like a big cloud and it always get's in brothers face." She giggled at her brother's image.

Just then a poofy black haired man came running towards them. The little girl's eyes widened in excitement. "Oji-chan!" She looked up at Sakura pointing a finger at him. "That's my brother! Thank you very much pretty lady." That said she jumped into her brothers arms hugging his neck.

"You had me worried Maru! You can't just take off like that." His focus turned onto Sakura as if just noticing she was there. "Thank you miss for taking care of my little sister. I hope she wasn't too much of a hassle."

She shuddered as he gave her a once over, then a twice over. He was about to give her a third over when she cleared her throat impatiently. 'The nerve' At least he had the decency to blush. "Thank you again miss. Maybe I shall see you around sometime." Bowing to her he started walking back in the other direction.

Kakashi clenched his fist together. He felt like hitting him. Hard. He had no right to look at her like that! The week that he had stayed away from her had given him back some semblance of restraint. At least enough from going over there and beating the guy's face in. He calmly took a deep breath.

"Bye pretty lady! Come play with me sometime ok?" Maru gave her a toothy smile while waving enigmatically. "See you later!" Sakura called back. 'She was so cute! Her brother was nice but a little weird. Not to mention perverted…

What was up with that hair though? It was like a cloud of black dust bunnies suffocating his face. It was almost as creepy as Lee's eyebrows. She shivered. He really could use a wax.

Heading home she was surprised to see Kakashi walking ahead of her in the same direction. 'Where had he come from?' "Kakashi-sensei." He kept walking as if he hadn't heard her. "Kakashi!" she yelled.

He turned to her with his usual happy anime eye smile. "Yo."

She caught up and he resumed walking with her beside him. He looked down at her from the corner of his eye. She was fidgeting with her hands and had an anxious look on her face.

"Is something troubling you?" He was wearing his usual bored expression. She hoped he was back to normal.

"Well.. you see…" Clearing her throat she tried settling her nerves. Kakashi's full attention was on her making her more nervous than she should've been.

"Tsunade has requested that I become your personal medic. Just in case you get into any trouble." She smiled unsurely at him.

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. He hadn't seen that coming.

"So I'll be at your house bright and early!" 'This won't be so bad.' she tried to convince herself'. At least he wasn't mauling her or anything.

"Eh... you really don't need to do that. I'm a big boy Sakura." He was pleased by Tsunade's request but his pride had been insulted. It's not like he needed a baby-sitter. He was a grown man after all.

Sakura grinned up at him. "Nope Tsunade made it clear that I am to watch you until you've recovered."

He gave her a wry expression. "I assure you I haven't gone on any killing sprees as of late. I've been good."

Sakura laughed the previous tension leaving her. He was just comfortable to be around there was no helping it. When you weren't on his bad side anyways.

They stopped as they reached Sakura's house. She turned to him with a bright smile. "Here's my st-"

She froze as his arms enveloped her and buried his face in her shoulder. "Kakashi?" Her voice came out as a whisper.

A moment later he leveled his face with hers barely an inch away, his arms on her shoulders. "You should stay away from strange men." Next thing she knew he was gone with a grin and a swirl of leaves leaving them to pile at her feet.

She gaped at the spot that he had just occupied. She swore that man was bipolar! Like he's one to talk about strange men. One second he was serious and the next he was grinning like an idiot. "Kakashi no baka!" What was he trying to pull?

'Wait! Does that mean he saw her with Oji?' Inner Sakura smirked. 'I bet he was jealous.' Blushing crimson she berated her other half. 'What are you talking about!'

He couldn't be jealous… could he? Then again she didn't know him very well and with all the attention she'd been getting from her she could only assume that he had at least some attraction to her. But Kakashi didn't get jealous.

Without realizing it she had opened her door and was now currently staring at her kitchen wall. She wondered if she sleepwalked. 'Might as well start making dinner.'

Getting out her cutting board she started to prepare everything needed for Sushi. She loved sushi! She ate it at least once a week. She was usually a generous person but when it came to her sushi she was cutthroat.

After eating she showered and changed into her sleep shift. It was a pink, silk one with a few ribbons trailing the flowing material. It was a gift from her mother on her last birthday and her favorite one. She loved the way it felt against her skin.

She wasn't really looking forward to tomorrow morning. The kunoichi wondered if it would be a crime to slip her former sensei something to knock him out for the next week.

Sakura sighed dejectedly. It'd never work. He'd probably catch on and find some horrible way to pay her back. Like make her run 1,000 laps. Even though he wasn't her teacher anymore he'd find someway knowing him.

She was going to kill Tsunade for this. The only thing she could do was brave it out she supposed. The last thing she thought of before drifting off to sleep was how nice it was to be in his arms. Even if it was wrong. (This would've been the perfect spot to stop but I decided to make it longer.)

The next morning she was at his doorstop just as she said she'd be bright and early. 'C'mon Sakura you can do it! Just knock on the door.' Slowly she brought her hand to the door. 'Just a little further….'

"I'll just come back later. He's probably still sleeping anyways." Just as she was about to turn around the door opened to reveal a half-dressed Kakashi wearing only a pair of black, khaki pants. 'Make that a sexy, muscular, half-naked Kakashi.'

"See something you like?" blushing she realized she'd been staring. "You wish you pervert!" He held his hands up defensively. "By the way there's a little bit of drool hanging out of your mouth."

"I did not drool!" she yelled while subconsciously bringing her hand up to her mouth. "Would you like to come in?" He gestured to the door as he stood to the side to let her in.

She hmphed as she walked past him and into the living room. Not much had changed since the last time she'd been there except for the Icha Icha Paradise books on the coffee table. "So what do you do at home anyways?"

He looked pointedly at his precious novels and she glared at him. "Besides your perverted books." He rubbed the back of his head. "Hmm. I sleep and eat, and that's about it."

'No wonder he's always out. He probably gets bored a lot.' "But it's not too bad since I'm never home." The whistling of the kettle cut their conversation short. "Would you like some tea? I'm just making breakfast."

She'd always thought Kakashi as a coffee person. "No I'm good." On his way to the kitchen he brushed past her leaving a tingling feeling where his hand had brushed against her hip.

He came out with two cups of tea and a plate of bagels. The morning was spent reminiscing about fond memories of team 7 and laughing about Naruto's antics. It was pleasant and Sakura had lost track of time. By the time they stopped talking it was well into the afternoon.

Sakura realized she hadn't eaten since last night since she didn't feel like eating that morning due to her stomach's constant flip flops. "Let's go out for lunch! You need to go out and have some fun." She promptly dragged him out of his seat and had her hand on the doorknob when he pulled her back.

She gave him a puzzled expression. "As much as I think the women of Konoha would appreciate the view do you think I could go change first?" With a start she realized that he was still shirtless. Before she could start staring again she quickly grabbed their cups and dish saying she'd wash while he changed.

10 minutes later they were on their way to a sushi bar much to Sakura's delight with a fully dressed Kakashi in his jounin uniform. To their surprise they found Ino there along with Asuma, Shikamaru and Chouji.

Ino squealed in excitement and rushed over to her. They sat together leaving Kakashi to sit with the guys. Ino looked at her pink haired friend slyly. "What are you two doing together hmm? You wouldn't happen to be on a date would you?"

Sakura flushed crimson as she looked at her friend incredulously. "I knew it! I'm right aren't I? Wait till everyone hears about this!" The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment then lowered her voice. "Ohh. I guess it's a secret isn't it?" She winked at her. "Don't worry I won't tell a soul.

Before Ino decided that they were engaged or some other ludicrous thing she held her hands up. "We are _not _going out!" she hissed. "Tsunade told me to watch over him because he got injured during a mission." Ino looked at Kakashi doubtfully as he talked with Asuma.

"He looks fine to me."

"Not physically. It's more of a mental injury." She hoped Ino wouldn't ask any more questions. She didn't feel like explaining everything and she might end up bringing up some embarrassing details.

Unfortunately lady luck was against her today and Ino proceeded to question Sakura until she was sure there was nothing else she could possibly tell her besides her incidents with him but she wasn't about to tell anyone about that.

"So basically you're baby-sitting him." The cherry blossom nodded tiredly. She couldn't remember the last time she had been interrogated so thoroughly. She loved Ino to death but sometimes she got a little too curious.

"You know he is pretty good looking."

"I guess." She was starting to feel a little nervous. Whenever Ino had that tone of voice it always led to something bad. "Actually he's drop dead gorgeous!" Sakura rubbed her temples. "And your point is…?" The blonde sighed dramatically. "My point is that you haven't jumped him already!" "Nani?"

"If I were you I would've had my way with him already." Ino looked at her disappointedly. "But I have my Shik already."

"And how are you guys doing?" She was glad to have the conversation directed off of her and Ino liked to talk so she let her talk. Plus she was interested in how they were doing anyhow.

For the rest of the afternoon they talked and ate and they even spent dinner there. Sakura learned that Neji and Tenten were engaged, Chouji and Temari were meeting, Lee could actually hold a conversation with Gaara that consisted more than just a grunt and a glare and all the other current gossip.

After they said their goodbyes Sakura and Kakashi headed back.

"Did you have fun tonight?" She hadn't really spoken to him while they were there. She hoped he hadn't been bored.

His eye crinkled slightly as he looked at her. "It was nice talking to Asuma. We haven't met in a while. So I suppose it could be considered fun."

She collapsed on his sofa as soon as they entered his apartment. She held up a hand to cover he yawn. "I'm so tired." Kakashi sat down next to her.

"Oh yea. I still have to check your chakra." Familiar with the routine he turned around while Sakura put her hand on his back. A warm feeling engulfed Kakashi as her chakra intertwined with his.

He was left with a feeling of loss when she moved her hands. "You're getting better. At this rate you'll be back to normal in a week or two."

Part of her was relieved that he'd be all better but the rest of her was filled with a sense of dread and disappointed. She hated herself for enjoying his gentle and intimate touch. It made it feel like she was taking advantage of him.

"Is something wrong?" She couldn't look him in the eye afraid he'd be able to see right through her, not seeing his dark gaze focused intently on her.

"It's late I should go. I'll see you tomorrow." She needed to clear her head. She didn't see his hand making a grab for her until it was too late resulting in her crashing into his chest.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" His tone teasing but his expression was serious. Not that Sakura could see it. "Ka-ka-shi!"

"I'm not letting you leave until you kiss me." She pushed him at an arms length glaring defiantly at him. "I'm serious! I have to get home!"

She was completely unprepared for the warm pair of lips covering her own. The only thought in her head being how nice it felt. As quickly as it started it was over leaving her mind in a swirl of confusion.

She looked up to see a soft look in his eyes that left an ache in her chest. It just vaguely occurred to her that she just missed seeing what his mask hid. "See that wasn't so hard was it?" He frowned when he saw she wasn't looking at him. Asking softly, "Are you afraid of me?" Not knowing what to say she said goodnight and quickly left thankful he didn't try to stop her.

Leaning against the back of her bedroom door she thought about what just happened. _/Are you afraid of me/_ Was she afraid of him? No. Not him. She was afraid of how he made her feel. She didn't think she was ready for this whatever it was.

Love? She quickly dismissed the thought. 'Don't be stupid.' She didn't have time for love. She still had her whole life ahead of her. Whatever this was she didn' think she was ready for it.

She banged he head back against the door. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

A/N- So what do you think good bad? Now to continue the next chapter… I haven't really thought of anything for the next chapter so I'll get back to you on that. My brain hurts…


	6. Chapter 6

Well the last chapter wasn't as great but I hope this one makes you guys happy. Thanks for reviewing. You guys rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Fluffy101- Thanks. Sakura's 17

Harada Risa- Awesome! Thank you.

MissPriss998- Arigatou! You don't think it's too much?

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UniqueWolfLover- That makes me feel better.

Ellie3005- I updated!

Animemistress419- Hope you like this one!

SweetAssassin- lol. Sorry.

CutieSmoothie- Voila. Thanks and enjoy!

Burmywolf- I hope this one's good. Please read.

Yaaru- Whoops. I kind of forgot about it… But I hope this one makes up for it!

Mini-MoonStar- Gomen. I tried to make him more in character for this one. Thank you.

Hamgirl- Thank you! I'm glad you like this.

Shatterdheart- I'm trying.

ShyMoonlight- Yup! Here it is.

The-kaiba-heir- Yea. I've been neglecting his poor mask. But here's sorta to make it for it!

Kitty demon- Oji will make an appearance again. I promise. But not in this chapter.

Tixylix- I'll try. Thank you!

Shadowvixen- Many thanks to you! I like it too.

The next morning Sakura quietly knocked on Kakashi's door, every pore of her body radiating tension. Knocking softly she waited patiently for him to open the door. She waited a moment before knocking again, this time louder.

When he still didn't answer she started banging on it. "Kakashi! Open this door before I bust it down!" It was then that she remembered that the door was kept unlocked. She ducked inside quickly to avoid the curious stares passerbys were giving her.

'Way to draw attention to yourself baka' She didn't want to go back out again. What if they all jumped to the conclusion that they were going out or something. What if they thought they were secret lovers!

She calmed a bit when she noticed that no one was in the room. 'That's strange' She figured she must've made enough of a commotion to wake even Naruto up. "Kakashi?"

Well if he wasn't out here and the only room she hadn't checked was his bedroom… she gulped. 'Maybe I should just let him sleep the day away. He does need his energy after all…' /Oh please. What happens when he wakes up and you're not there/ She pictured Kakashi going out and robbing the bookstore and sweat dropped.

She was just outside of his door. 'I guess I should stay.' She put her hand on the knob. 'It'd be the right thing to do.' Bracing herself, as quietly as she could she opened the door to find….

"He's not here!"

Fuming to herself she decided how she was going to hurt Kakashi.

/I could break his legs/

'But he'd need those during a mission.'

/What about his arms/

'Wait need those too.

Finally she settled for just setting his hair on fire. She contemplated setting his pants on fire but that wouldn't leave quite a lasting impression.

His room was just as unadorned and clean as the rest of his house. It consisted of a small shelf with books. Half of it filled with familiar bright covers and others with various ninja guides to jutsus and chakra control.

His bed sheets were white as well as his pillow and had black covers. It was a queen sized bed which was about the size of hers. His walls were a grey color and the carpet was brown.

The only other things in his room were a drawer and a desk. Either he didn't have enough money to go shopping or he was just too lazy. She decided it was the latter. On top of the drawer were two pictures. One of team 7 and another of a pretty auburn-haired girl, a raven haired guy that resembled Sasuke, the fourth hokage and Kakashi.

They were all smiling except for Kakashi who looked like he could care less. 'Who would've thought Kakashi would be the delinquent in the group.

"Hmm. If I were Kakashi where would I be..?" A memory of her genin years came back to her of when she had followed Kakashi to the memorial stone. Of course! She'd seen him come and go from there a multitude of time when she'd been training.

When she was younger she hadn't understood why the stone had been so important to him. She knew his comrades had been killed in action but she couldn't comprehend why someone would just stare at a rock for hours.

Even into her chuunin years it remained a mystery to her. She could understand going to visit them once in a while or honoring them for a few minutes even for an hour. But to just stand and stare wouldn't change anything. It couldn't bring them back.

It wasn't until just before she became a jounin that she realized why people stood there for hours on end. Why they wouldn't go home even when it started to pour.

It was more than just a name. It was more than a memory. It was regret, sorrow, memories, love, compassion and repentance.

She'd finally experienced it during the war. Everyday someone died. There was so much blood, death and hatred. All because of one man's lust for power. She had felt so helpless, so insignificant.

People died left and right and she could only watch unable to save them. Those that she'd known forever and those she'd only known for a few hours. All of them she missed. She had made it a ritual to come to the memorial at least twice a week.

So many names had been added to it after Orochimaru had died. True he had not succeeded in gaining ultimate power but he had succeeded in destroying Konohagakure both spiritually and physically.

For nearly two years Konoha had been a sad and mourning city. Buildings were demolished, loved ones were gone and no one smiled. Not surprisingly it was Naruto who had gotten everyone back on their feets. He had caused a scene in front of the Tsunade's office yelling at everyone to get back into shape because sound was probably going to want revenge.

That had brought everyone out of their stupor. It wasn't as if the thought hadn't occurred to them but having someone shove it in your face was more moving she supposed.

As the saying goes when you hit rock bottom there's no place to go but up. She was lucky her parents had lived but just barely. They each had sustained vital wounds and had been out of commission for months.

But now they were barely home trying to make up for it. Not that they were home before but now she'd be lucky to see them once a week and even then it wouldn't be for long. She pushed back the empty feeling of loneliness as it tried to force its way through her barriers.

She'd become quite adapt to pushing feelings away. But it would only come back later stronger and faster and she'd burst and take out her emotions on the closest person to her. Hopefully she'd be far away from Kakashi when that happened.

When she saw him all violent thoughts disappeared. He was staring silently at the memorial looking more melancholy than she'd seen him in a while almost to a point of sadness.

She approached him silently not quite sure where they stood right now. The tensing of his shoulders told her he knew she was there. Unsure of what to do she stood next to him and gazed at the memorial and did some meditating of her own.

Having her stand next to him was awkward. /Are you afraid of me/ 'Why did I say that? Stupid!' His self-restraint was getting better. He no longer had trouble restraining his urge to seek her out but when she was so close to him it was hard for him to resist reaching out to her.

Internally sighing to himself he wondered what exactly he did to deserve this cruel punishment. Earlier he had been mentally telling Obito the situation he had gotten himself into. He knew it was kind of strange to be talking to an inanimate object but it helped him think it through and if he listened hard enough sometimes he got answers.

He had either three choices. 1) He could tell her how he honestly felt and get it off his chest. 2) He could ignore her and his feelings and wait for it all to subside. 3) He could run away and become a monk.

Nome of those choices sounded particularly inviting and he didn't think he could become a bald, peace-loving preacher anyhow. He was surprised Sakura hadn't yelled at him yet. He subtly chanced a glance at her.

She had her eyes closed as if concentrating and her expression was fixed in an almost sad expression. It took him a moment to realize that his hand was outstretched and moving further and further away from him and closer to her.

He retracted it a split second before she reopened he eyes. 'That was close'.

Sakura looked at him for a second before looking away again. 'I swear I felt something…'

The tension in the air was suffocating. It'd never been like this between them before. The silences they shared had always been comfortable. He wanted it to be back to normal. _He _wanted to be back to normal.

"Kakashi?" An edge of timidity in her tone.

"Hmm?" His usual bored expression back on his face.

"Can you teach me some new juutsus?"

Surprise flickered over his face before settling again. "Sure."

"It's just Tsunade has a lot on her hands and doesn't always have the time to teach me, and I get tired of keep practicing the same ones over and over again and—"

Kakashi smirked as she continued to ramble. "I said yes."

Sakura looked at him with her eyes wide and startled by his answer. "Yes?"

He held back a chuckle. "Yes. You know when someone agrees to something." His sarcastic remark earned him a glare. "Shall we?"

The kunoichi just huffed as she walked past him without looking back. "Smart ass."

"Did you say something?" He loved to tease her.

"Kakashi no baka!" This was how it's supposed to be. When they reached the glade he asked what she wanted to learn.

She put her finger to her chin thoughtfully and shrugged. "What do you recommend? Anything the great copy ninja has for me will no doubt make me infinitely stronger."

"Well I am pretty powerful aren't I?" Her grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Modest too." She was happy that they were on familiar terms again.

"I'm going to show a taijutsu." His tone now serious. "Your speed is good as well as your strength. I'm sure Tsunade has been training you well."

She nodded. She could now successfully uproot a tree without killing it while hardly breaking a sweat. Sometimes she scared herself with how strong she was. Not to mention her temper. One day she'd probably end up giving Naruto a concussion.

"This will enable you to create an instant cubicle. First you need to concentrate your chakra into your arms and fists." He looked at her to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were wide with curiosity while absorbing every word he said.

"This is where the strength part comes in handy. You'll need to push the chakra out into the ground by using your physical strength in order to push the ground up and around your enemy. In other words you're punching into the earth and channeling your chakra into it to create a temporary prison."

"This is called the earth imprisonment jutsu. A very advanced juutsu and takes some people even years to perfect. At first it may come out a bit feeble but it'll become sturdier as you gain control of this."

The anticipation Sakura was exuding was almost tangible. Her eyes shining with excitement and focused on him. She really was cute.

The rest of that day was spent training and Kakashi showing her how to master the technique. She had no problem memorizing the hand signals but she had trouble trying to channel her chakra through the ground. Even with her perfect chakra control it was extremely difficult to even move the ground.

Sometime right before noon Kakashi left Sakura to practice and whipped out his prized book much to Sakura's irritation. "Stupid perve."

"I heard that." Sakura fell resulting in a loss in concentration.

The next few hours flew past with Sakura continuing in her mastery of the earth imprisonment technique. Kakashi would glance at her every few minutes. Just to see how much she'd progressed though. It wasn't like he had trouble tearing his eyes away either. Nope, none.

It was a good thing Sakura had her back to her sensei or she might've been getting nowhere with this. She was having some trouble as it was. If she had been facing him she didn't think she'd be able to focus at all. She thought she deserved some credit though. Even if she wasn't at 100 percent she had managed to at least move the ground.

"Ugh. I'm exhausted." She wondered what her mentor would say if she saw her apprentice working so hard when she was on her 'break'. She'd probably be proud but pissed that she wasn't taking it easy.

She plopped herself right next to Kakashi almost touching. The fact didn't go unnoticed by either party. 'Maybe I should've left a little more space between us'. The events of yesterday still fresh in her mind.

Stomachs growling reminded them that they hadn't eaten since breakfast. Kakashi chuckled sending a warm feeling to her chest at hearing him laugh. "Let's get something to eat. My treat."

Sakura blushed the slightest bit. "You don't have to do that. Besides I should be the one to treat you for showing me that awesome juutsu!"

He looked down amusedly at her. "If you insist…"

"I do insist." While trying to stand up she turned too quickly, tripping over a root in the process and promptly fell on Kakashi.

It took a significant amount of will power on his part to contain the groan threatening to come out. She had ended in a straddle position and with her soft body right on top of his he felt his restraint cracking.

Sakura herself was having thoughts of a similar nature. /Mmm… this feels nice./ Sakura agreed with her other personality. Her eyes having closed on their own snapped back open. 'What am I doing!'

Quickly she scrambled off of him feeling like her face was on fire. She had no idea how long she'd been laying there. She crossed he arms and looked anywhere but at him. If he laughed her he'd be sporting a few bruises the next day regardless of her tired state.

He was disappointed when he felt her move but didn't try to keep her there. He was satisfied with the crimson hue on her face but didn't show it.

Suddenly her face lit into a bright smile. "Hey I know! Let's go to that new place that just opened, the Aburame. I hear they have the best Sukiyaki! Wasn't that one of your favorites?"

He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

Sakura's blush returned. "Well I see you with it during most of the town parties so I assumed it was."

His smirk was visible through the mask. "So you watch me eat?"

"Of course not! I just happen to notice things." When he continued smirking she groaned in exasperation and grabbed his hand. "Let's go I'm starving. And if you keep teasing me I might just take back my offer."

Kakashi laughed but refrained from saying anything else while his eyes lingered on her Sakura's hand over his. "Hai, hai."

After stopping by his house to get her wallet they headed towards the Aburame this time without holding hands. Sakura was grateful it was close because her feet were beginning to feel like lead.

The restaurant wasn't fancy or anything but had a cozy atmosphere and didn't look too expensive. 'This is officially my favorite restaurant.' Looking around she saw that the only table available was in a corner by the window.

The floors were polished wood and the seats were comfortable. The walls were colored green with pictures of the hokages decorating every one. "This place is nice."

Kakashi nodded in agreement.

A petite, brunette, woman came to take their order smiling flirtatiously at the handsome jounin. "How are you two doing this evening?" Sakura was tempted to kick him when he smiled back at the waitress.

'He can flirt with whoever he wants. I don't care.' At least that's what she tried to convince herself.

While talking to the waitress he watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye to see her reactions. She looked like she was about to kill him. When she asked her what they wanted he ordered two sukiyaki meals.

"I'll be back soon with your meals." As she turned away she winked disappearing into the double doors that led into the kitchen.

"So you're finally done flirting with that woman." Her tone was sour and she looked cross.

He looked innocently at her. "I was just making conversation."

"Don't give me that look. It doesn't suit you." She was still upset with him but her frown lightened.

It changed into a puppy dog pout and for some reason she just couldn't keep the scowl on her face. Maybe because it looked so absurd for Kakashi to be having around a puppy dog look on his face but the sight made her laugh.

It came out as light, happy giggles, which seemed contagious because Kakashi started to chuckle.

Somewhere in the back of her mind it occurred to her that the fact that he could make her feel so happy around him might've been dangerous but it went unheeded and was stowed away with the rest of troubles that night.

When the waitress came back with their food he thanked her and she went off to tend to other customers but not before slipping him a piece of paper which Sakura was positive had her number on it. She glared at her retreating back wishing that she'd trip and drop all her dishes.

She watched her companion put the paper in his vest pocket and she wanted nothing more that to rip it to shreds and burn on the candle in the center of their table.

The rest of meal was spent in silence except for the occasional comment here or there about the waitress and Kakashi would just grin and say she was just being friendly.

'To you maybe, but she didn't even give me a glance.'

Back at the apartment the two of them sat on the comfortable, grey couch. This was getting to be a familiar routine. Without having to say anything Kakashi turned and let Sakura check his chakra flow.

Once again he reveled in the feeling of her being with him. Chakras melding together and it was done before he knew it shaking him out of his daze.

"It seems you'll be healed sooner than I thought. I can feel your inhibitions now. They're getting stronger at a rapid pace. I think in a few days you'll be done and I won't be needed anymore."

The last part was said softly. She felt a pang in her chest and rested her hand right over in wonder. 'Why am I feeling like this?' This was what she wanted. To be able to heal again and get back on her feet. So then why did she feel so cold ?

/Who do you think you're fooling? If you'd stop pushing him away you'd see it too. Can't you see this is your chance to be happy? Kakashi wouldn't hurt you./.

The reason she didn't date anymore was because the guys she went out with just wanted her as a trophy to show off. Every time she thought it might be different but every time she had been sorely mistaken.

Which had been her reason for not wanting to get close to Kakashi. It was dangerous because she had finally been enjoying her freedom and being unattached to anyone. What right did he have disrupting her life like this?

He was starting to worry. She had suddenly gone silent and hadn't moved a muscle. "Hey Kakashi, do you think you can get to sleep now?"

'What?' Where had that come from? "You see, I'm not supposed to leave until you're asleep." He glanced at the clock, which read 11:49. When had it gotten so late?

He shrugged. "You can just leave. I won't tell Tsunade you've been ditching your duties."

'It wasn't her fault she hadn't stayed last night. If scary, old men didn't keep frightening her away maybe she would've.' "Nope. It's my job and besides I have to make sure you get enough sleep."

He sighed dramatically. "Yes mother dearest."

She pointed to his bathroom. "Go brush your teeth young man." Her voice mock mothering.

A few minutes later he emerged looking refreshed. As he sat on the side of his bed he looked expectantly at her. "Aren't you going to read me a bedtime story?" He asked sarcastically.

She smiled sweetly. "Once upon a time there was a sweet, beautiful jounin who had to baby-sit a cranky old man who was really an evil, foul-smelling dragon. One day he transformed into his real form and tried to eat the wonderful girl but she defeated him and everyone lived happily ever after. The End."

"Would you like me to tuck you in?" But he was already asleep with his blanket all sprawled out under him and his arm hanging over the edge. She grinned at how cute he looked. This would be the perfect blackmail picture." If only she could get his mask off.

Smiling wickedly as quiet as a mouse she crept up right next to him and waited to see if he'd stir. He didn't move. Slowly she brought her hand up to his face and hooked two fingers under his mask.

As smoothly as she could she drew it down inch by inch past his cheekbones and then his nose when suddenly his arm grabbed her hand and pulled her to him making her squeal. "Curious?"

Peeking through her hand she hoped he wouldn't be mad at her. Surprisingly he was just grinning at her and already had his mask back in place. "Just you wait Kakashi, I _will_ get your mask down."

She pouted drawing his attention to her lips. "Well there's one way you can get it down."

"Eh? Really how!" He brought his fingers to his mask pulling it down slowly but also leaning in. His meaning finally sinking in she panicked and pushed him resulting in her losing balance thus falling off the bed blushing like a ripe tomato.

Then an idea popped into her head. She walked over and leaned down. "Here's your goodnight kiss." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. The feeling of her soft lips on his skin lingered even after she pulled away.

A split second later it sunk in that she couldn't have kissed his cheek because his mask covered it. Then he finally realized she had his mask and was running away with it laughing like a madman.

"Bye bye Kakashi! And don't worry I'll take good care of your mask." She ran out and slammed the door closed with it reverberating throughout the house.

He stared at the door for a moment then flung himself back into his pillows. "Hatake… you are an idiot." He smirked. He'd just have to get the little minx back tomorrow. No one got away with stealing his mask. Not that anyone had before. So he'd have to teach her a lesson.

After brushing her teeth she looked at her prize and couldn't help but laugh at her victory. 'Ha serves him right!' She'd definitely need to get a picture of him tomorrow. /We rock/ She drifted off to sleep happily completely unaware of the troubles tomorrow would bring.

A/N I didn't mean to make the chapter so long. But it just did. I hope this one was better than my last one. I'm not good at writing long ones because I keep droning on and on about minor details. Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Ivory Black aka torri chiobie- hehe. Sorry for taking so long.

Yuk san1- thank you! that's very kind of you.

Firefox- lol. I know. Kakashi is so hot!

PandyBas- Here you are!

Dead Flower- hehe. Hope I didn't let you down..

Katory- arigatou

Preseacombatir13- ehh… your comment was confusing.. ;

The squabbit- aww.. don't hurt yourself. Thanks!

Wynter89- Is it really exciting? Thank you.

Harada Risa- hmph. -- I know. I guess I'll have to do better ne?

AishiGinkaze- I love this pair too! Well this one's kind of long too so hope you enjoy!

SweetAssassin- lol. I kind of rushed this chapter. Don't be mad please!

Polaris- Yay::dance:

Tixylix- lol. I'm glad you accept.

ShatterdHeart- Thx!

ShyMoonlight- The suspense!

Fluffy101- Oh. That's no fun… 

Animemistress- Thank you!

Hamgirl- hehe. Thx.

Shadowvixen- me too! I guess I'm pretty random.

Luna Forest- Yay! Come back!

Disclaimer- I don't and never will own Naruto or any of the characters. I can dream though can't I?

Note- I kind of rushed this chapter. I guess I just got impatient. So please bear with me! Hope you guys like it though….

The next morning she got up and got dressed while humming cheerfully. /Haha! We got him good./ (the slashes are inner Sakura.)

The weather matched her mood with the sun shining brightly through her windows and spilling into her room like a flood of gold.

There was a slight skip to her step as she headed for Kakashi's apartment donning a pair of spandex shorts covered by a red skirt with a red sleeveless top sequined with Sakura petals. Her camera was hiding in her bag alongside her usual shinobi pouch.

She didn't bother knocking this time wanting to catch him off guard so she could get her blackmail. She stifled the urge to laugh. Being bad was fun.

Little did she know that what lied on the other side of the door was trouble in the making. She placed her hand on the camera and stealthily entered leaving the door open. Good thing it wasn't windy today.

Stealthily moving in she caught a glimpse of silver and whipped her camera out. As she took aim she nearly dropped the camera but quickly pressed the button. Faster than she react she found herself trapped between the wall and a bare-chested jounin.

"Good morning Sakura. And what do we have here?" His voice had a teasing tone to it and she could feel his hot breath on her face. He smelled like mint.

She found it increasingly harder to breath the longer she looked at him. Without his mask on he was beautiful. Contrary to what she thought before there was no mutation on his face or scars covering it. His skin was flawless and his lips looked firm but soft at the same time. Thinking about his lips brought back the memory of him kissing her and she felt her face go warm.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his arm dart for the camera and just barely managed to duck under his arms and out of his reach. She stuck her tongue out at him and put the camera back in her bag along with the picture that'd she'd just taken.

She waved her finger at him mockingly. "Now, now. Behave Kakashi-_chan._ If you can't then I'll have to punish you."

Kakashi smirked. "I didn't know you were into that kind of thing. But if that's how you want it I suppose I'll play along."

Sakura blushed crimson as his implications sunk in. "What are you talking about Kakashi no baka!" She told herself to take deep breaths and count to 10. Breaking his apartment would be bad. 'Not that he doesn't deserve it...'

'Now how am I going to keep my camera from him?' She eyed him suspiciously waiting for him to jump at her anytime now. His normal laid back attitude and innocent expression only made her more suspicious.

'He's up to something.' /If he is we'll just have to beat him down/

"Are you hungry?" She shook her head.

"I already ate. Did you?"

He gestured at the plates that were left on the kitchen table. "Oh. Why don't I wash your dishes while you go get dressed.

Sakura's attention was once again drawn to his bare chest and had to will herself to look away which was a lot harder than it should've been. She blushed prettily.

He noticed her flushed features and inwardly smirked. So he _was_ making an impression.

"But I thought you liked looking at my chest." He teased.

She turned away from him calling him an idiot and stalked towards the kitchen.

He chuckled and disappeared from his room. A few minutes later he stood before Sakura wearing a black, tight shirt that stuck to him like a second skin almost as if tempting her to touch his muscles and a pait of cargo pants.

When Sakura saw him she felt her jaw go slack. /Let's jump him/ Black was definitely his color. She didn't see Kakashi out of his jounin uniform often and wondered why he was dressed so casually. She didn't even think he owned anything else. Except for maybe underwear…

Quickly looking away she busied herself with drying the plates. "Uh… Sakura."

"What?" She snapped.

"If you rub that dish any harder I think it might just shatter."

Looking at the object in her hand she felt like she could smack herself. If you looked close enough there was a small crack at the edge. 'Grr… pull yourself together Sakura. Just act normal, you can do this!'

Clearing her throat she tried to look as casual as possible. It proved to be quite hard though seeing as how she twitched every time he so much as moved a finger.

He was enjoying how she's jump every time he moved his hand and would smooth out an imaginary wrinkle in his pants or readjust his hitai-ate just to see her reaction.

They moved to his living room and sat on the sofa. "So why aren't you wearing your normal uniform?"

"Since I'm not really going to be doing anything I thought a change of clothes would be nice. Besides I have to wash it every now and then. Otherwise I'd be dirty."

She was tempted to tell him he already was dirty but decided to refrain knowing he'd probably turn it back on her as some kind of perverted joke. "Don't you have other uniforms too? I mean it must get damaged a lot and it never looks worn."

He scratched his head. "We just go to the hokage when we can't wear it anymore and she gives us another. Is it really that strange for me to be wearing something different?"

She felt a little uncomfortable having his sole attention focused on her. "Yes. You've always worn your jounin uniform even when we were genin. I guess it's just weird seeing you without it."

Kakashi grinned at her. "So you're saying I don't look good like this?"

"No, I think you look hot." She slapped her hand over her mouth in disbelief. The older jounin's grin widened as he leaned in.

"What was that?" he teased. "Err… that's not what I meant. I meant to say that you… seem hot! Your face looks a little warm, maybe you're coming down with a fever! I'll go get you something cold to drink!"

She jumped up and sprinted towards the kitchen. At least that's what she would've done if it weren't for that pesky hand that was hindering her from moving as far away as possible.

She was getting a _really _bad feeling about this. Gulping nervously she turned to face the older jounin when she was abruptly crushed by a blur of blonde.

"What have you done to Sakura you old pervert!"

Sakura's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Shock from Naruto's abrupt arrival and anticipation of Kakashi's next move had probably taken off some good minutes off her life.

She wasn't sure whether she was glad Naruto had gotten there before anything had happened or whether she wanted to kill him for ruining what could've been a very good moment.

Shaking her head she mentally berated herself. 'Of course your glad he's here. Why would you want anything to happen with that scarecrow anyways…'

Either way the Kyuubi was in for a beating. Taking in his appearance she realized that he was covered in dirt, mud, dry blood and some other stuff she didn't think she wanted to know. And he was getting it on her!

"NA-RU-TO!" she grounded out through clenched teeth. Safe to say he was sporting a few bruises and a swollen cheek afterwards.

Rubbing his cheek he gave he a sad, puppy dog face. "Ouch! That hurt. I just came back from a mission and I didn't even get any ramen yet. Besides we were just worried about you."

She snapped her head towards the door where Sasuke stood leaning with his hands folded over his chest. She glared at him and waved stiffly in his direction to which he merely nodded and stared intently at her with his black orbs. 'What is he looking at?'

"Is there something on my face?" He just shook his head and focused his attention on Kakashi who merely stared back at him. 'Well that was weird…'

"Hey! That's not fair! Why are you being all nice to Sasuke when you beat me up?" he whined.

"He's not the one who jumped on me with his body all filthy was he?" Naruto hmphed and sat on the ground while glaring at Sasuke and giving her sad, little pouts.

Sighing she brought her hand up to his face healing his swollen cheek and started to heal his cheek. "Did you guys at least go to the hospital yet?"

Naruto gave her a cheeky smile while scratching his head. "Well you see, we came back and reported to Tsunade immediately and we found out that you were here and rushed to find you right away.

She snorted. "What did you guys think he was going to kill me?"

"Ehh… not exactly." He laughed nervously.

"What do you mean Naruto? And it better not be anything stupid."

He got closer so he could whisper. "We thought Kakashi might… you know…"

"No, I don't know! Just spit it out."

"The dobe thought that Kakashi might make a move on you."

"Don't try to push this all on me, bastard! You were worried too." Sasuke hnned and glared crossly at him.

She let her hair cover her face so they wouldn't see how right they were in their accusations.

"Neh. Kakashi, why is your mask blue?"

"What? Mask!" True enough Kakashi had a mask back on his face.

She would've fallen down from disbelief if she hadn't been sitting. Instead she opted to collapse back into the sofa she'd been occupying.

She jumped back up and smiled wickedly at Kakashi causing him a bit of unease. "Guess what?"

Naruto's face lit up in an excited look. "Is it a secret? Is it, is it?"

Nodding her head she motioned for them to get closer. As she reached into her bag she dodged expertly as Kakashi tried to snatch it away from her. However she wasn't able to dodge the tackle, which sent both of them sprawling on the ground with him on top of her.

"Now, now Sakura. You don't want me to tell them what we were up to for the past few days do you?" He whispered in her ear.

"You wouldn't dare!" She yelled.

"Oh really?" He drawled. She felt him turn away from her and towards the boys.

Panic welling up she yielded. "Wait! Alright, I won't show them!"

Giving her his customary grin he took the blackmail picture from her and she hanged her head in defeat.

/We're going to get you for this Kakashi/ If looks could kill Kakashi would've been writhing in pain on the floor with his body on fire. Since they couldn't she had to settle for glaring at him.

"Looks like you guys have been getting along pretty well ne?" Naruto said slyly while leering at the pair still lying on the ground. From their point of view it looked as if Kakashi was kissing her neck and Sakura was staring into his eyes.

Sputtering indignantly the kunoichi all but shoved him off of her which didn't feel too good for Kakashi. But he just shook it off and grinned slightly lecherously. "

"Why so harsh all of a sudden? You were so gentle last night. Don't be shy just because we have an audience."

Smiling sweetly at the silver-haired man, which served as a bare warning when suddenly he found himself sailing through the air right into Naruto who was caught completely unprepared. Resulting in a swirly eyed anbu and a dazed jounin entangled in each other's limbs.

Clapping her hand together she turned to Sasuke. "Since you didn't go to the hospital yet why don't you let me give you a check-up?"

The Uchiha snorted in disdain. "I'm perfectly fine. Besides I think the dobe over there needs more attention now then I do."

Sakura hmphed. Her anger still evident in her eyes. "C'mon Sasuke-kun. Don't be stubborn! As a medic it is my responsibility to see that you are in perfect health.

He raised an eyebrow at her as if asking if she was serious.

She cracked her knuckles menacingly while giving him a scary smile. "You can cooperate peacefully or we can do this the hard way."

Sweat dropping the raven-haired anbu backed up shakily. There were three things that could make him lose his composure. His rivalry with Naruto, Itachi and the last of them bring Sakura's temper. He'd seen her splinter a tree with her pinky without breaking a sweat. He didn't intend to find out what she could do to him with that strength of hers.

"Whatever." He twitched when he saw her grin triumphantly. "Don't think you've won. I'm only doing what's best for my health."

She looked skeptically at him. "Uh-huh. Sure Sasuke-kun. Whatever you say."

She spent the rest of the day with group 7 laughing, talking or just reminiscing with them. After much pouting and whining she eventually healed Naruto's many injuries. None of them too serious except for a gash on his chest, to which Sakura berated him for not telling her sooner.

He grinned happily saying she worried too much. Dinner was cooked by Sakura. It looked peculiar at first glace but was rather good. The dishes were of course done by the guys. She almost regretted making them wash them when she heard yelling and crashes but then she remembered it was Kakashi's house and smiled contently lying down on the comfy couch.

She was startled when she suddenly felt a weight settled on top of her. "Uhhh…"

"Putting up with those two is exhausting." Came an out of breath response. "I pity their girlfriends."

The cherry blossom let out a giggle. Then remembered the awkward position she was in. "Do you mind maybe getting off of me?"

"But I'm comfortable where I am."

"What if someone sees us like this?" She tried to look towards the kitchen but his body was in the way.

He chuckled. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked suspiciously.

"As usual they got caught up in their rivalry. This time to see who could wash the most dishes. I've never seen them so eager to do chores. My dishes were done in record time. Though I was worried when Naruto tried to do them two at a time."

"So where are they now?" It was strangely quiet in there. Almost as if they weren't there….

"Well, they tied so Naturally they went somewhere else to settle the score. I think I heard something about Ichiraku."

Bubble-gum locks were pulled as she felt her luck go out the door along with her last chance of escape.

Suddenly she felt unexplainably angry at the silver-haired jounin on top of her. She was angry at him for playing with her feelings like this. Acting like this was normal, and that he genuinely liked her more than a friend. She wasn't just a toy he could play with for his amusement when he was bored. At least that's how she looked at it.

'He's just teasing me because he doesn't have anything else to do. It's not like he could really be attracted to me. He was my teacher for kami's sake! How dare he treat me as his source of entertainment? How dare he make me feel like this?

She felt her insecurities grabbing hold of her and choking her. She never could deal with being scared so instead she channeled it all into something easier. Anger.

"Get off." It felt as if the room had lowered a few degrees. The coldness in her voice surprised even herself.

Slowly Kakashi got up into a sitting position beside her feet.

Stiffly Sakura got up and slowly made for the door.

"Wait." She felt her shoulders tense even more as his hand made contact with her. "What's wrong?" His voice betrayed nothing in his usual bored tone.

'Damn him! How could he remain so calm when she was so angry at him!' She wanted him to lose control. Even when he wasn't supposed to have all of his self-restraint he stayed so calm and collected.

"Nothing's wrong! Everything's fine! Just dandy!" She felt herself going hysterical. Her cold mask falling apart and she desperately clung to it to retain as much dignity as she could.

She had every intention to leave before he could stop her when he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. Embracing her silently.

Then the dam broke. Every emotion she felt right then came pouring out. Her pain, confusion, anger and love.

"Damn it!" she cried. "This wasn't supposed to happen! Why did you do this to me!"

The stoic ninja stood there supporting her with his body, which was the only thing that kept her from falling.

Pounding her fists into his chest with her head bowed low she continued to ramble. "I tried to stop it, I even tried fighting it but it didn't go away. This is all Tsunade's fault! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

She glared at him through her tear clouded vision. "And you! Stop pretending to be in love with me, or whatever the hell you're doing because it's not fun anymore. It's not. It hurts…"

She held her chest where her heart was beating erratically. "Right here." Her voice now only a whisper. She looked at him with so much pain and confusion he felt his own heart clench.

She froze when his lips met her skin. He kissed her where her tears were falling making them disappear. When he stopped she looked up directly into his eyes and was surprised by what she found. His dark eye and the one with the sharingan both so different but held the same raw emotion.

He looked as if he was suffering. She brought up a hand a caressed his cheek holding it tenderly. 'He's sad…'

"Don't be sad, I'm the only one that's supposed to be sad." She tried to smile reassuringly at him but it only ended up as a grimace.

"Onegai, don't look at me like that. It's alright if you don't care about me like that. You shouldn't feel guilty for not loving me. I understand.

"No. You don't." His eyes were boring into her and she was overwhelmed with the feeling of the sharingan boring into her. Almost drilling the feelings he felt into her. She felt what he felt inside. It was like swimming through his emotions. His constant sorrow, his anger, and a ruthlessness that was buried away somewhere deep reserved for his enemies.

But past that somewhere deeper still there was a loneliness that filled him like water into a cup. An isolation and a longing that she'd guessed was there all along but didn't want to get involved in. 'Guess it's too late now.'

"But with it there was also a spark of happiness. And as she got closer to it, it got brighter. It welcomed her brightly and suddenly she was brought back into Kakashi's apartment in his arms now sitting on his lap.

He looked at her embarrassed and slightly guilty. "Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." To her disappointment both his mask and hitai-ate were back in place.

Before he could apologize further she held her hand up motioning for him to stop. "Do you have any romantic feelings for me whatsoever?"

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Yes." The passion in his voice made her falter for a second.

"U-um. Do you think we could work something out then?" She smiled up shyly at him.

He stared at her for a moment and when he was sure she was confident about this he relaxed. "I hope so."

Suddenly the clock rang midnight causing him to sigh. "You should probably get home. It's pretty late."

She played with the hem of her shirt nervously. "Do you think… I could stay tonight? With you?"

He smiled at her and carried her bridal style into his room. That night both of them fell asleep in each other's arms dreaming of nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

A/N-I know this was pretty fast and all but I didn't feel like waiting. I'm going to have either one or two more chapters left. Please be nice!


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